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Don Newton

Rules and Regulations

All official Wyoming State Rules and Regulations are kept at the Wyoming Secretary of State’s Office. Click here to view all current Rules and Regulations.

Trade Secret Confidentiality Requests

Entities requesting permits from the DEQ are required to provide detailed descriptions of the activities or processes involved, so the DEQ may evaluate compliance with standards to protect public health and the natural resources of the state. These descriptions often include information that is considered "trade secrets" or proprietary by the entity. The DEQ must balance the obligation to keep confidential any trade secrets or proprietary information disclosed during the permitting process with the obligation to comply with the Wyoming Public Records Act (W.S. 16-4-203(d)) and Wyoming Environmental Quality Act (W.S. 35-11-1101(a)).

The following checklist has been developed for submitting requests to keep documents containing "trade secrets" confidential. The checklist summarizes the trade secret confidentiality issue in the State of Wyoming and refers to three documents that provide guidance for such requests:

  1. A seminal August 29, 2011 letter from former DEQ Director John Corra to a member of industry describing the components of a trade secret confidentiality request and the extent to which the DEQ will be able to keep this information confidential. These concepts are reiterated and refined in the checklist. 
  2. An excerpt from the Wyoming Supreme Court’s March 2014 decision in Powder River Basin Res. Council v. Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Comm’n., 320 P.3d 222 (Wyo. 2014), adopting the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) definition of “trade secrets.” 
  3. 40 C.F.R. § 2.208 lists additional criteria that must be met in order for information to be considered a “trade secret.”

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Don Newton

Abandoned Mine Land Administrator

don.newton@wyo.gov
307-777-7062

Don Newton became the Administrator of the Abandoned Mine Land Division (AML) of DEQ in March of 2021, where he met the challenges of the pandemic head-on by significantly increasing the volume of work output by leading a team of dedicated staff. He is currently the committee chair for the National Association of Abandoned Mine Land Programs, which addresses mine reclamation issues across the country. He also co-founded the AML Native Plants Project, which conducts applied research to improve vegetation success on reclaimed mine sites. This Project is in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management and The Nature Conservancy.

Mr. Newton has experience with federal, state, and local governmental agencies, having worked across several environmental disciplines, including groundwater, surface water, solid and hazardous waste, watershed protection, and AML. He has also gained knowledge from past work in environmental consulting, real estate development, and private business ownership. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in geology from the University of Louisiana and studied Environmental Pollution Control at Penn State. Having grown up in Louisiana, his love for the outdoors brought him to Wyoming via a few other locations. He enjoys exploring through travels, rock climbing, and sailing. He is happily married to his wife of 25 years and is the proud father of two young adults.

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Don Newton - Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality